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Karaga
Festival (April)
 Karaga Festival: Celebrated in the Dharmaraya temple in Nagarathapet in April. Karaga is an earthen pot covered with flowers which is carried on the head by a priest dressed like a woman. The priest is followed in a procession by sword brandishing devotees known as
Veerakumars on a moonlit night. The festival celebrates the incarnation of primordial power.
The Karaga Festival, peculiar to Bangalore, is a quaint celebration of goddess Shakti invoked in the earthen pot from which the festival derives its name. This pot, heavily bedecked with flowers, is borne by a man who observes severe penance for several days before the festival. Dressed as a woman in saffron, sword in hand and wearing the
mangalsutra (necklace) of his wife, the karaga bearer precariously balances this pot on his head to set out from the
Dharamaraya Temple on the day of the Chaitra Purnima in April.
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